Starting next year, Microsoft Teams will release a feature allowing users to schedule a “virtual” commute to start or end their day while working from home, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Teams is a collaboration hub incorporated into Microsoft 365, the line of subscription productivity services that Microsoft offers that includes Office, Outlook, and other cloud-based applications. An update next year will allow users to schedule a virtual commute for themselves, which consists of a set block of time for users to set goals for their day in the morning, or to reflect on their day in the evening.
“Enterprises across the world right now are coming to us and saying, ‘I don’t think we will have organizational resilience if we don’t make well-being a priority,’” said Kamal Janardhan, the general manager for workplace analytics and MyAnalytics at Microsoft 365. “I think we at Microsoft have a role, almost a responsibility, to give enterprises the capabilities to create these better daily structures and help people be their best.”
Microsoft hopes that a virtual commute will help people working from home feel like their workday has a definitive beginning and end. The company noted that activity on the Teams chat feature between the hours of 5 p.m. and midnight has increased by about 48% since the pandemic started.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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